Little Andrews Bay Provincial Park

Ootsa Lake is part of the massive Nechako Reservoir system and marks the northern boundary of Tweedsmuir Provincial Park. Little Andrews Provincial Park is located on the north Shore of Ootsa Lake. In 1952, Alcan Aluminum built the Kennedy Dam on the Nechako River, creating the Nechako Reservoir, a series of interconnected lakes that runs nearly 125 miles (200 km) east/west in two broad arms that connect near the dam at the easternmost end of the reservoir.

An endless choice of activities takes you away from the rush of modern living. Enjoy boating, fishing, hiking, canoeing and camping. There are dozens of fine canoe routes here; you can take a few hours to run a river, or a few weeks to challenge a chain of lakes that run through the rugged peaks of the Coast Mountains in the west and rolling Interior Plateau hills in the east.

The northern arm consists of Ootsa and Whitesail Lakes, while the southern arm, which bisects Tweedsmuir Provincial Park, consists of Eutsuk and Tetachuck Lakes. With a short portage between Whitesail and Eutsuk, the lakes can be boated as a 170-mile (275-km) circuit.

Canoeing or kayaking the Nechako Reservoir is not recommended, as the area was not logged out before it was flooded. Still, people do it, and no wonder. This is one of the longest circuit routes in the province, with only two portages, or one, if you travel counter-clockwise and are comfortable shooting Class III. Prominent are the ghostly stands of trees, rising silently from the water, a legacy of the 165-feet (50-metre) climb in water levels when the dam was built. Redfern Rapids, which can be navigated safely by powerboat, is one of the highlights of the trip, as are the glaciers at Eutsuk’s western shoreline. With the deep green of the surrounding foliage, the white snow, and the blue sky, the Nechako Reservoir is a photographer’s dream.

The landscape surrounding the eastern section of Nechako Reservoir, particularly the stretch between the settlement of Ootsa Lake and Redfern Rapids, consists of the rolling, heavily forested slopes of the Fraser Plateau, but the western half features vast glacial expanses of Coast Mountains, for which Tweedsmuir Provincial Park is renowned.

Little Andrews Bay Provincial Park has 8 campsites. Facilities provided include water, fire pits, and pit toilets. This is truly prime fishing country, and Ootsa Lake is a popular place to fish for rainbow trout.